Oil Prices - Cost of Gas

 FOOD FOR THOUGHT

 I would like this idea to fester... it might evolve into something useful.

We are in an economic war.  A real war, much like the war on terror, that is threatening the national security of our country.

This "Global" economy is killing us.  Why? Because we cannot possibly provide our standard of living to all 7 billion people on this planet at once.

The oil, natural gas, and coal under the ground in our country belongs to us, the U.S. citizen.

I propose thinking about our oil as ours; our coal as ours, our natural gas as ours.  It does not belong to the big, global energy companies.

So, here's my proposal.

Declare "economic war"

This means that we should focus on having our oil refined for us only.  Have our coal mined for us only. Have our natural gas tapped for us only.... FIRST.

Let the oil companies play on the global market and make their money.

But we should take care of ourselves (citizens) first.

Let our government search for oil on our own land and when found, invest in building U.S. owned refineries to supply our country first.  This should allow us to be energy independent and allow us (U.S.) to be free from the swings in oil prices due to speculation, global demand, or global conflicts.  We, as citizens can sell "our" excess oil globally, but only after our needs and economy are satisfied.

I hate the idea of getting the government involved in this but it is the Federal Government's responsibility to assure national security.  The only branch of the government I trust is the military and feel they should be the ones handling this. (Keep "Industry" out of this.)





One quick way to do this is to increase the strategic oil reserve to the point where we can control global oil prices. (i.e. make it too costly for the oil countries to overcharge for their oil.

We must have the ability to stabilize global energy costs.  If Iran threatens the oil supply, so what? We have our own to tap from.

The Fence

One of my best friends has a philosophy that the life you live has two choices.  One right, one wrong.

I differ somewhat in this philosophy because people interpret right and wrong differently; what's right for one person is wrong to the other, yet they both feel they are doing the right (good) thing.

We've all been on this earth long enough for us to chose a time and place where we were unjustifiably persecuted by an "enemy". Propagandist's can mold our beliefs by bringing back memories when persecution happened and make enemies of anyone they chose. They can twist the truth into all kinds of lies; half truths and  focusing on only one side of the story.

But, if Rio de Janeiro  slum statistics are representative of the percentage of all people who consciously chose the wrong path, 94% of the people on this earth want peace, want to pull their own weight and do not want to hurt anyone but live their life as honorably as they can. The other 6% has made living in the slum a living hell for the honest majority with drugs, gangs, murder, and fear mongering.

94% of the people want peace on earth.

The U.S. does not have a perfect record of doing only good.  It has done some nasty things to other countries for personal gain... but, the good the U.S. has done for the world outweighs the bad by a long shot.

Both friendly and unfriendly countries have many of the conveniences they have because of the U.S.  Every country has cars, cell phones, high tech medicine, cell phones, refrigerators, and telephones.  Where did the transistor come from?  Where did the home computer and television come from?  Where did mechanized agriculture come from?  From inventions done by people in the U.S. where they had the freedom to create with the promise that they could make and hold onto wealth.

So, dear enemies of the U.S. , count the blessings you have that came from the U.S.  Also, count the curses the technologies brought when used inappropriately.  Cars came first, then tanks which would not have been possible without the internal combustion engine.

My point in all of this is that any country can have a free and productive society if its citizens are allowed to pursue their dreams.

Rich citizens = rich leaders.